Shares of Christopher & Banks Corp. plummet after Q1 results
Shares of Christopher & Banks Corp. (NYSE: CBK) fell 10.16% or $1.81 to $16.00 in after-hours trading Thursday after the specialty retailer of women’s clothing reported a drop in net income for the first quarter.
For the three months ended June 2, 2007, the Minneapolis-based company recorded net income of $11.7 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, compared with $14.6 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, for the first quarter last year. Same-store sales for the thirteen-week period ended June 2, 2007, declined 4% compared with the thirteen-week period ended June 3, 2006.
“We have taken steps to better align our fall assortment with our customers’ fashion needs,” said Christopher & Banks CEO Matt Dillon. “Our merchandise deliveries for the second half of the year are anticipated to be lower than last year on a per store basis. We believe lower per store receipts combined with continued merchandise improvements will allow us to deliver stronger performance in the second half of the year as compared to last year.”
As of June 2, 2007, Christopher & Banks opened 25 new stores and closed two stores in the first quarter, bringing the total number of stores to 801, compared with 739 at the end of the first quarter last year.
Total sales for the first quarter were $149.4 million, compared with $142.5 million for the first quarter of 2006. Christopher & Banks experienced a 26% year-over-year increase in inventory on a per-store basis at the end of the first quarter, compared with the same quarter last year. Company officials said that approximately half of this increase was due to a larger combined balance of early June receipts and in-transit inventory.
For the second quarter, the company said it expects earnings per diluted share to clock in between $0.11 and $0.12, compared with $0.21 a year earlier. For the year, the company estimates earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $0.80 to $0.83 per share, compared with $0.89 per share last year.
